Analysis of spatio-temporal dynamic pattern and driving forces of urban land in China in 1990s using TM images and GIS

China has witnessed fast urban growth in the recent decade. This study analyzes spatio-temporal characteristics of urban expansion in China using satellite images and regionalization methods. Landsat TM images at three time periods, 1990/1991, 1995/1996, and 1999/2000, are interpreted to get 1:100000 vector land use datasets. The study calculates the urban land percentage and urban land expansion index of every 1 km(2) cell throughout China. The study divides China into 27 urban regions to conceive dynamic patterns of urban land changes. Urban development was achieving momentum in the western region, expanding more noticeably than in the previous five years, and seeing an increased growth percentage. Land use dynamic changes reflect the strong impacts of economic growth environments and macro-urban development policies. The paper helps to distinguish the influences of newly market-oriented forces from traditional administrative controls on China's urban expansion. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

STUDY ON THE SPATIAL PATTERNS OF LAND-USE CHANGE AND ANALYSES OF DRIVING FORCES IN NORTHEASTERN CHINA DURING 1990-2000

Land-use change is an important aspect of global environment change. It is, in a sense, the direct result of human activities influencing our physical environment. Supported by the dynamic serving system of national resources, including both the environment database and GIS technology, this paper analyzed the land-use change in northeastern China in the past ten years (1990 - 2000). It divides northeastern China into five land-use zones based on the dynamic degree (DD) of land-use: woodland/grassland - arable land conversion zone, dry land - paddy field conversion zone, urban expansion zone, interlocked zone of farming and pasturing, and reclamation and abandoned zone. In the past ten years, land-use change of northeastern China can be generalized as follows: increase of cropland area was obvious, paddy field and dry land increased by 74. 9 and 276. 0 thousand ha respectively; urban area expanded rapidly, area of town and rural residence increased by 76. 8 thousand ha; area of forest and grassland decreased sharply with the amount of 1399. 0 and 1521. 3 thousand ha respectively; area of water body and unused land increased by 148. 4 and 513. 9 thousand ha respectively. Besides a comprehensive analysis of the spatial patterns of land use, this paper also discusses the driving forces in each land-use dynamic zones. The study shows that some key biophysical factors affect conspicuously the conversion of different land- use types. In this paper, the relationships between land- use conversion and DEM, accnmlated temperature(>= 10 degrees C) and precipitation were analysed and represented. We conclude that the land- use changes in northeast China resulted from the change of macro social and economic factors and local physical elements. Rapid population growth and management changes, in some sense, can explain the shaping of woodland/grassland - cropland conversion zone. The conversion from dry land to paddy field in the dry land - paddy field conversion zone, apart from the physical elements change promoting the expansion of paddy field, results from two reasons: one is that the implementation of market-economy in China has given farmers the right to decide what they plant and how they plant their crops, the other factor is originated partially from the change of dietary habit with the social and economic development. The conversion from paddy field to dry land is caused primarily by the shortfall of irrigation water, which in turn is caused by poor water allocation managed by local governments. The shaping of the reclamation and abandoned zone is partially due to the lack of environment protection consciousness among pioneer settlers. The reason for the conversion from grassland to cropland is the relatively higher profits of fanning than that of pasturing in the interlocked zone of farming and pasturing. In northeastern China, the rapid expansion of built-up areas results from two factors: the first is its small number of towns; the second comes from the huge potential for expansion of existing towns and cities. It is noticeable that urban expansion in the northeastern China is characterized by gentle topographic relief and low population density. Physiognomy, transportation and economy exert great influences on the urban expansion.

SATELLITE REMOTE-SENSING PREDICTION OF JAPANESE PILCHARD FISHING GROUND IN THE HUANGHAI SEA AND THE EAST-CHINA-SEA

The thermophily, fishing season and central fishing ground of Japanese pilchard (Sardinops melanosticta) were studied by using satellite remote sensing (SRS) and other methods in Haizhou Bay and Tsushima waters during 1986-1990. A rapid prediction method of fishing ground is presented. Moreover, the results indicated that the thermophilic values of the fish stock are 11-20 degrees C and both fishing grounds are in increasing temperature process from the beginning to the end of the fishing period. The Japanese pilchards gather vigorously at the sea surface temperature of 15-17 degrees C. The water temperature is a key factor affecting the fishing season and the catch of the fishing ground. The increasing temperature process restricts the fishing season development and central fishing ground formation. The accuracy of 15 predictions made in the Haizhou Bay fishing ground is up to 91.3%, and 37 predictions made in the Tsushima, fishing ground shorten the fish detection time by 13.4% - 22% on the average.

Feeding and egg production of the planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus in spring and autumn in the Yellow Sea, China

Shipboard incubations were conducted in spring (April) and autumn (October/November) 2006 to measure the feeding and egg production rates (EPR) of Calanus sinicus in the Yellow Sea, China. The ingestion rate (2.08-11.46 and 0.26-3.70 mu g C female(-1) day(-1) in spring and autumn, respectively) was positively correlated with microplankton carbon concentrations. In the northern part of the Yellow Sea, feeding on microplankton easily covers the respiratory and production requirements, whereas in the southern part in spring and in the frontal zone in autumn, C. sinicus must ingest alternative food sources. Low ingestion rates, no egg production and the dominance of the fifth copepodite (CV) stage indicated that C. sinicus was in quiescence inside the Yellow Sea Cold Bottom Water (YSCBW) area in autumn. Calanus sinicus ingested ciliates preferentially over other components of the microplankton. The EPR (0.16-12.6 eggs female(-1) day(-1) in spring and 11.4 eggs female(-1) day(-1) at only one station in autumn) increased with ciliate standing stock. Gross growth efficiency (GGE) was 13.4% (3-39%) in spring, which was correlated with the proportion of ciliates in the diet. These results indicate that ciliates have higher nutrient quality than other food items, but the low GGE indicates that the diet of C. sinicus is nutritionally incomplete.

Close coupling between phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton grazing in the western South China Sea

We conducted 28 dilution experiments during August-September 2007 to investigate the coupling of growth and microzooplankton grazing rates among ultraphytoplankton populations and the phytoplankton community and their responses to habitat variability (open-ocean oligotrophy, eddy-induced upwelling, and the Mekong River plume) in the western South China Sea. At the community level, standing stocks, growth, and grazing rates were strongly and positively correlated, and were related to the higher abundance of larger phytoplankton cells (diatoms) at stations with elevated chlorophyll concentration. Phytoplankton growth rates were highest (> 2 d(-1)) within an eastward offshore jet at 13 degrees N and at a station influenced by the river plume. Among ultraphytoplankton populations, Prochlorococcus dominated the more oceanic and oligotrophic stations characterized by generally lower biomass and phytoplankton community growth, whereas Synechococcus became more important in mesotrophic areas (eddies, offshore jet, and river plume). The shift to Synechococcus dominance reflected, in part, its higher growth rates (0.87 +/- 0.45 d(-1)) compared to Prochlorococcus (0.65 +/- 0.29 d(-1)) or picophytoeukaryotes (0.54 +/- 0.50 d(-1)). However, close coupling of microbial mortality rates via common predators is seen to play a major role in driving the dominance transition as a replacement of Prochlorococcus, rather than an overprinting of its steady-state standing stock.

Distribution patterns of chlorophyll a in spring and autumn in association with hydrological features in the southern Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea

Two field studies were conducted to measure pigments in the Southern Yellow Sea (SYS) and the northern East China Sea (NECS) in April (spring) and September (autumn) to evaluate the distribution pattern of phytoplankton stock (Chl a concentration) and the impact of hydrological features such as water mass, mixing and tidal front on these patterns. The results indicated that the Chl a concentration was 2.43 +/- 2.64 (Mean +/- SD) mg m(-3) in April (range, 0.35 to 17.02 mg m(-3)) and 1.75 +/- 3.10 mg m(-3) in September (from 0.07 to 36.54 mg m(-3)) in 2003. Additionally, four areas with higher Chl a concentrations were observed in the surface water in April, while two were observed in September, and these areas were located within or near the point at which different water masses converged (temperature front area). The distribution pattern of Chl a was generally consistent between onshore and offshore stations at different depths in April and September. Specifically, higher Chl a concentrations were observed along the coastal line in September, which consisted of a mixing area and a tidal front area, although the distributional pattern of Chl a concentrations varied along transects in April. The maximum Chl a concentration at each station was observed in the surface and subsurface layer (0-10 m) for onshore stations and the thermocline layer (10-30 m) for offshore stations in September, while the greatest concentrations were generally observed in surface and subsurface water (0-10 m) in April. The formation of the Chl a distributional pattern in the SYS and NECS and its relationship with possible influencing factors is also discussed. Although physical forces had a close relationship with Chl a distribution, more data are required to clearly and comprehensively elucidate the spatial pattern dynamics of Chl a in the SYS and NECS.

Onshore-offshore variations of copepod community in northern South China Sea

Copepod communities in onshore and offshore waters show a gradient from primarily near shore to primarily oceanic species. Understanding the transition between these communities is fundamental to determining the range of coastal influence. Copepod communities in the northern South China Sea (nSCS) were studied based on samples collected by vertically towing a net in 10 February-6 March (winter) and 26 August-6 September (summer) of 2004. Calanoida species richness, total copepod abundance, Shannon-Weaver diversity index, and onshore-offshore occurrence of dominant species showed obvious change from onshore to offshore waters. Although the offshore stations had lower abundance than the shelf stations, they had more species and larger diversity index. Abundance of some species (groups) with dominance index > 5% (Calanus sinicus, Euchaeta spp., Temora spp., Paracalanus parvus, and Subeucalanus subtenuis) declined from onshore to offshore waters. Warm water species (Pleuromamma abdominalis, P. gracilis, and P. robusta) occurred in offshore waters in both cruises. Station (q-type) cluster analysis in winter and summer separated copepod community into onshore and offshore communities at similar to 40% level of similarity. The two communities were divided at the position of similar to 100-m isobath. In summer, C. sinicus occurred in the upwelling area east of Hainan Island, indicating the presence of an oversummering stock of this species.

Spatial distribution of ciliates, copepod nauplii and eggs, Engraulis japonicus post-larvae and microzooplankton herbivorous activity in the Yellow Sea, China

The abundance of anchovy Engraulis japonicus larvae, >20 mum ciliates, copepod eggs and nauplii, and microzooplankton herbivorous activity were studied in the Yellow Sea in June 2000. Anchovy juveniles and larvae were found in only 6 of the 19 stations sampled. The ciliate communities were dominated by 2 species: Laboea strobila and Strombidium compressum. In the surface waters, the abundance of L. strobila ranged between 0 and 560 ind. l(-1). S. compressum only appeared at Stns 15 to 18 (20 to 3300 ind. l(-1)). L. strobila was found mainly in the top 20 m. The abundance of L. strobila was less than 50 ind, l(-1) in waters deeper than 25 m. S, compressum showed subsurface abundance peaks at the salinity abnormality. Tintinnids occurred occasionally with abundance lower than 100 ind. l(-1), The total ciliate abundance fell in the range of 40 to 3420 ind. l(-1). The ciliate biomass in the surface water and the water column ranged between 0,15 and 6.76 mug C l(-1) and 0.4 and 134.4 mg C m(-2), respectively, In the surface waters, the abundance of copepod eggs and nauplii ranged from 0,3 to 3.1 and 1,1 to 15.6 ind, l(-1), respectively. The average abundance of copepod eggs and nauplii in 4 depth (0, 5, 10 and 20 m) fell in the range of 0.2 to 2.8 and 1.0 to 29.4 ind. l(-1), respectively. As a food item of the E. japonicus post-larvae, the abundance of copepod nauplii and eggs appeared to be low. The abundance peaks of ciliate and E, japonicus post-larvae coincided. Although not found in the gut of E, japonicus post-larvae, aloricate ciliates might be ingested by first-feeding anchovy larvae, preventing initial starvation and prolonging the time to irreversible starvation. On the basis of dilution experiments with positive microzooplankton grazing rates, microzooplankton grazed at rates of 0 to 0.61 d(-1). Grazing pressure of microzooplankton on chlorophyll a standing stock (P-i) and potential chlorophyll a primary production (P-p) were 17 to 46% and 35 to 109% d(-1), respectively.

Summertime ciliate and copepod nauplii distributions and micro-zooplankton herbivorous activity in the Laizhou Bay, Bohai Sea, China

The abundance and biomass of ciliated protozoa and copepod nauplii were investigated at 21 grid stations and two anchored stations in the Laizhou Bay, Bohai Sea, China in June 1998. Dilution incubations were carried out to investigate micro-zooplankton grazing pressure at the anchored stations during spring tide and neap tide. The dominant species were Tintinnopsis amoyensis, T. chinglanensis, T. pallida and aloricate ciliates. A total of 13 species of tintinnids were found. The total abundance of ciliates and nauplii ranged from 30 to 2390 ind l(-1) at grid stations. Tintinnopsis amoyensis was the only ciliate found at the anchored stations and in concentrations which varied from 0 to 6700 ind l(-1). The spatial distribution of ciliates was patchy. Tintinnopsis amoyensis and T. pallida were distributed in the Weihe River mouth and Xiaoqinghe River mouth respectively. The aloricate ciliates, T. chinglanensis and Codonellopsis ostenfeldi dominated offshore in sequence. The water mixing process may affect the spatial pattern of the dominant ciliate species. The abundance and biomass of copepod nauplii were in the range of 0-140 ind l(-1) and 0-7 mu g C l(-1) respectively, with the peak appearing at grid station 15. The total biomass of ciliates and copepod nauplii was in the range of 1(.)5-25 mu g C l(-1). Water column biomass of ciliates and nauplii varied from 2(.)37 to 52(.)3 mg C m(-2). At the anchored stations, the phytoplankton growth rates ranged from undetectable to 0 21 d(-1) and micro-zooplankton grazing rates from 0 13 to 0(.)57 d(-1). The grazing pressure of micro-zooplankton were 12 to 43% of the chlorophyll standing stock and 84 to 267% of the chlorophyll (C) 2000 Academic Press.

Impact of microzooplankton and copepods on the growth of phytoplankton in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea

Dilution and copepod addition incubations were conducted in the Yellow Sea (June) and the East China Sea (September) in 2003. Microzooplankton grazing rates were in the range of 0.37-0.83 d(-1) stopin most of the experiments (except at Station A3). Correspondingly, 31-50% of the chlorophyll a (Chl a) stock and 81-179% of the Chl a production was grazed by microzooplankton. At the end of 24 h copepod addition incubations, Chl a concentrations were higher in the copepod-added bottles than in the control bottles. The Chl a growth rate in the bottles showed good linear relationship with added copepod abundance. The presence of copepods could enhance the Chl a growth at a rate (Z) of 0.03-0.25 (on average 0.0691) d(-1) ind(-1) l. This study, therefore parallels many others, which show that microzooplankton are the main grazers of primary production in the sea, whereas copepods appear to have little direct role in controlling phytoplankton.

A new three-phase culture method for Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, farming in northern China

Studies on reproduction, hatchery management, and culture of Manila clams Ruditapes philippinarum were carried out in an attempt to optimize their culture conditions and techniques. Results from these studies led to the development of a three-phase culture method for Manila clam farming in northern China. The key components of the new method were: 1) early spawning and over-wintering indoors (greenhouse); 2) optimized larval culture conditions and techniques; 3) juvenile rearing in shallow, fertilized nursery ponds; 4) optimized stocking size and density and substrate for mudflat grow out. Broodstock were maturated indoors for a month from early April to early May. Primarily because of higher water temperatures in the greenhouse the clams spawned more than one month earlier than in the natural environment. From May to July, juveniles were reared for 1-2 months indoors to a size of 2.0-3.0 mm in shell length before being moved to outdoor, pre-disinfected, nursery ponds. Juveniles were then reared in the nursery ponds for one month to about 1.0 cm before being transferred to the mudflat for grow out. Juvenile clams in nursery ponds grew considerably faster than in the natural environment probably because of higher temperatures and more abundant natural food. During grow out, the clams were reared for 4-7 months until they reached a market size (3.0-3.3 cm). Juveniles produced after August were over-wintered in the greenhouse in which the water temperature was about 3 degrees C higher than that of the outdoor environment. Juveniles grew at an average rate of > 20 mu m day(-1), while in the natural environment no growth was observed during winter because of low temperatures. Juveniles in the greenhouse grew to 2-3 mm by the following March before being moved into outdoor nursery ponds. The three-phase culture method not only shortened the production period from spawn to market size from 24-36 months to about 10-14 months, but also prolonged the spawning season from 2 to 7 months, resulting in increased production of seed and market-size clams. Compared with the traditional method, the new method could increase the yield of market-size clams by 10-11 times, and increase the profit per ha mudflat by as much as 124 times and the profit per kg market-size clams produced by 13 times. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The story of the Fuh-Kien mission of the Church missionary society, by Eugene Stock ...

http://www.archive.org/details/thestoryofthefuh00stocuoft

The Harsh Reality of Pursuing Innovations: Emerging Market Perspectives

This short conference paper serves as a distillation of a keynote address delivered at the the Second National Conference on Management and Higher Education Trends & Strategies for Management & Administration hosted by Bangkok-based Stamford International University (Thailand) on November 1, 2014.Innovation is discussed as the heart of entrepreneurial processes occurring in today's capitalist economic systems, including transition economies like China and Vietnam, which underscores economic competitiveness of firms and economies. But the innovation effort and process also face dilemma of "entrepreneurial curse of innovation". Advantages and disadvantages are weighed for a more balanced view, especially in the context of outnumbering SMEs and given existence of pitfalls and traps along the innovation path of development. Toward the end, the value of the market is once again stressed amid the concern of subjective assumption and illusion about availability of market opportunities in the mind of innovators, which may contrast totally with the dismal outcome the actual market realities may show ex post.

Technology and the architecture of markets: re-configuring the Canadian equity market

This paper examines the relation between technical possibilities, liberal logics, and the concrete reconfiguration of markets. It focuses on the enrolling of innovations in communication and information technologies into the markets traditionally dominated by stock exchanges. With the development of capacities to trade on-screen, the power of incumbent market makers has been challenged as a less stable array of competing quasi-public and private marketplaces emerges. Developing a case study of the Toronto Stock Exchange, I argue that narrative emphasis on the performative power of sociotechnical innovations, the deterritorialisation of financial relations, and the erosion of state capacities needs qualification. A case is made for the importance of developing an understanding of: the spaces of encounter between emerging social technologies and property rights, rules of exchange, and structures of governance; and the interplay of orderings of different institutional composition and spatial reach in the reconfiguration of market architectures. Only then can a better grasp be gained of the evolving dynamics between making markets, the regulatory powers of the state, and their delimitations.